TDL’s Sports, Wrestling, & Otherwise

Panthers +3 at Saints: The Saints have to win a game at some point, right? Saints cover.

Jaguars -2.5 at Chiefs: I have no thought either way on this game… I’m just going with a gut feeling that the Chiefs win. I never really like teams coming off a bye week on the road. Especially when the home team is pumped up after just wrecking a “division favorite.” Chiefs outright.

Lions +3.5 at Redskins: They just beat the Steelers. The Redskins are coming off a bye week at home after stewing for a whole extra week about getting blanked by the Giants for 30 full minutes. Redskins cover.

Falcons +8 at Titans: The Falcons finally won a game! On the other hand, the Titans are 2-1 and played the Colts insanely tough. They’re definitely going to beat the Falcons but I HATE huge spreads in games like these. Still, I think the Falcons are in for a beating. Titans cover.

Dolphins +5 at Texans: OK, the let-down game is out of their system and they’re back home. Playing as well as they have been, I think that gets them the win here against a pretty bad Dolphins team. Texans cover.

Seahawks +6.5 at Steelers: I’m pretty sure the Steelers are now going to return to crushing people. Steelers cover.

Browns +14.5 at Patriots: This spread has moved to +17 as of this writing… which is making this game terrifying on a ton of levels. But, I’m not sure if there’s a big enough spread that would keep me from taking the Patriots. The Pats generally don’t ever get bogged down in the “play to the level of you competition” trap. The Browns defense is pitiful which pretty much makes this an “outscore the Patriots” game. As annoyed as I’ll be if I lose thins game with a 49-35 score, I still have to take it. Patriots cover.

Cardinals at Rams: This is another spread that scares the bejesus out of me. The Cardinals beat the Steelers last week by a touchdown and the Rams got their shit ruined by the Cowboys. That translates as a Pick’em? If I hadn’t created the Kurt Warner Bandwagon last week, I’d be worried. Cardinals +0.

Jets +3 “at” Giants: These games are always pretty fun because they only happen once every three or four years. This year, the Jets get to be the visitors at home. If they were having any sort of a decent season, one might say that was semi-unfair. Giants cover.

Bucs +10 at Colts: I was going to ride the Jeff Garcia Bandwagon with spread, but f*ck it… the Jeff Garcia Bandwagon rolls on. Bucs outright.

Chargers +1.5 at Broncos: The Chargers have gone from “favored to win the division in a walk” to “getting points against the 2-2 Broncos” in four weeks. LDT’s tears of unending sorrow sustain me. I have yet to get a Bronco game right this season, but I think the Chargers HAVE to make a stand here and I think they’re going to be a little cranky at being an underdog. Chargers outright.

Ravens -3.5 at Niners: I’ve been picking against the Ravens the last couple of weeks because the spreads were too big… of course, then they turned around two weeks in a row and lost outright. Could it really be that some of these elite AFC teams are finally slowing down? Might the pendulum finally be coming back a bit? This is my upset of the week… I think the Niners shock the Ravens

Bears +3 at Packers: The Bears are riddled with defensive injuries and the Packers are rolling along. For the first time in like three years, I’m taking the Packers over the Bears. Packers cover.

Cowboys -10 at Bills: OK, I can’t keep not picking the Cowboys just because they’re the Cowboys… and I can’t keep selling myself convincing scenarios on why they won’t win. The Bills are a pretty bad team and I’m pretty sure the Cowboys are going to run over them. Of course, they’re the Cowboys so they will lose now to spite me. Cowboys Cover. Total points 40.

John Lock(e)’s of the Week: Cowboys over Bills, Patriots/Browns over 48, Chargers over Broncos.

Upset of the Week: Niners over Ravens

Edit Saturday Night: Since I’ve written this, I’ve discovered three things: 1) The Cardinals/Rams spread has moved to Rams +3.5. This terrifies me, but I’m going to stick with the pick. 2) Alex Smith isn’t playing for the Niners, so I’m swapping that pick as Ravens cover. 3) That makes my upset of the week Chiefs over Jaguars. 4) I can’t take the Cowboys -10… I just can’t. I’m swapping that pick.

I’m leaving this in this format so I can laugh about my stupidity come Monday.

Is it just me or do I suck this year as much as I did last year?

It’s probably not just me. I hate gambling.

W/W - Bears -3 at Lions: The vaunted Bears defense gave up 37. Is there a rule that says the NFC representative to the Super Bowl has to plummet back to Earth every season?

W/L - Rams +11 at Cowboys: I hate them. I hate them so much. The vaunted 4-0 team. God, you’d think the team had been relevant for the last the last 10 years.

L/W - Raiders +3.5 at Dolphins: OK, so they’ve given me a reason to pick them against B-teams.

L/L Texans -3 at Falcons: I guess the Texans were, in fact, still due for a let-down game. The moral here is “don’t change your pick after you wrote a whole paragraph supporting it and then delete it and write another paragraph supporting the other team.”

L/L - Jets -3.5 at Bills: Could someone get started on the Jets’ season post-mortem? Thanks. How does this team still have fans… the team crushes them constantantly. Finally, it looked like they were going to give them a good season and they’re back to the old Jets.

L/L - Packers -2 at Vikings: As much as I love the state of Wisconsin, I don’t know if I can deal with a full season of Brett Favre man-love AND the Packers winning. One or the other is fine… both sucks.

L/W - Ravens -4.5 at Browns: What in the world is going on with the Browns?

L/L - Seahawks -2 at 49ers: God I hate gambling.

L/L - Broncos +9.5 at Colts: Really, really hate gambling.

L/W - Chiefs +12.5 at Chargers: But, I do love watching the Chargers season come apart. Building on last week, do you think it’s Schottenheimer, his wife, his accountant, or his agent who has the bigger smile on a weekly basis?

L/W - Steelers -5.5 at Cardinals: The latest chapter on why it’s retarded to give draft picks giant contracts. Am I going have to create a Kurt Warner Bandwagon, too? I think I might.

W/W - Bucs +2.5 at Panthers: Five words: Jeff Garcia Bandwagon rolls on.

W/W Eagles -3 at Giants: Is it possible to not get excited when your team records 12 sacks in one game? I don’t think it is.

W/W - Patriots -7 at Bengals: I desperately want this Cowboys/Patriots game out of the way so the most annoying fan base on Earth can STOP saying UNDEFEATED!!!! You’d think Cowboy fans would be a bit less obnoxious being as their team hasn’t won a playoff game in a decade but, nope… In fact, they still happily flaunt their 5 Super Bowl wins as though it’s happening now. If God could incinerate one team… could it be the Cowboys?

This Week:
- Straight up: 5-9
- Against the spread: 8-6

Overall:
- Straight up: 35-27
- Against the spread: 31-26-5

Locks of the Week: 2-2

Upsets of the Week: 1-1

Chapter 3 starts the “look outside Manhattan” portion of our jaunt to find digs that won’t run us $3,000/month. A lot of people I know who live in the city have found apartments out in Astoria, Queens. Astoria is located just outside Manhattan; I’ll call it 10 subway stops from midtown. As borough locations go, Astoria’s a pretty money spot. 1 bedrooms apartments in Astoria range from $1200 - $1800 depending on the location. Two bedrooms are a little more. Either one is less than this place.

One of Ms. L’s co-workers is a life-long Astoria resident. He offered to cruise us around the neighborhood in his car to show us the decent places to live.

We didn’t actually look at any apartments there as Saturday was mostly a walking tour, but I kinda dug Astoria. I’d only ever been out there to visit a different one of the girl’s co-workers. It’s kind of a weird neighborhood with equal parts Greek and Middle Eastern. It was the only neighborhood in New York I’ve been through where women were wearing the full on burka get-ups. Literally nothing visible but their eyes… head-to-toe in black. If that’s your gig, cool… I guess.

Long story short, the neighborhood was nice. It was kind of a Manhattan-lite that I could deal with. Of course, Ms. L is in charge of finding apartments in Queens… which just about seals the deal that we’ll end up living in one of the 3 boroughs I’m in charge of trolling.